Anyone from Vancouver, British Columbia?

[SweepEm]

I'm headed up to Vancouver BC this Sunday

Anyoner train with Tim Shears or Marcus Soares?

[aseepish]

Tim's a great guy! Unfortunately I was only able to train with him for a brief time in 2005 (scheduling issues). I never had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Soares, but I did train with one of his purple belts.

Double unfortunately the weather is a bit crappy in Vancouver at the moment. Hopefully the rain stops by Sunday!

[SweepEm]

My wife had a voucher for a free trip. We were trying to go to Mexico but if you see the weather reports, there's a hurricane hitting Cabo and now the heart of Mexico. We also had a chance to go to Colorado and there's a huge storm out that way.
A little bit of rain is ok by us....

I know some guys who train with Tim. Tim seems like a really good teacher and a very cool guy.
Did you train with Big Dave?
Or maybe it was Mario, who just got his brown belt recently.
I know both Dave and Mario.They were in LA competing at the Pan Ams back in the Summer.

Marcus Soares was in LA a few months ago, when they had the UFC here in town and I got to meet him. I was re-habbing my knee and couldn't participate in the seminar he was giving but he had some really good stuff to show.

Where in BC do you live?

[aseepish]

Weekdays I'm in Vancouver, weekends I go back to my mom's place on the Sunshine Coast.

I think I've met Big Dave, but I don't know Mario. I went to Tim's website http://graciebarra.ca for the first time in a while - he got his black belt since the last time! That's great for him!

[SweepEm]

my plans are to go to train at Tim's place on Tuesday night.
Come on by and train with us or at least hang out...

Tim's out of town, competing at the ADCC trials in Wayne, New Jersey this weekend. If anyone's interested in the ADCC:

http://news.adcombat.com/

I just went through the list of competitors and it's got lots of hugely talented people:

http://www.grapplers.com/zone/news.cfm?#49

I've trained with many of them...

I found out Mario lives in the Boonies, some small town about 5 hours from Vancouver...

[SweepEm]

Thanks to Sensei Tim Shears, Big Dave, Dire and the rest of the Vancouver crew.

It was a great pleasure to be in your beautiful city, enjoying the awesome sights and fantastic food.

I sacraficed getting a big bag of candy and not going Trick or Treating and intead had a great time training at your school. Your money is sure different with coins instead of dollar bills: the looneys and tooneys...
What do you guys do when you go to strip clubs?
Tough to tuck a coin in a stripper's thong...

With Whister/Blackcomb only 90 minutes away, along with other closer ski resorts, it's sure has to be tempting to call in sick to work to enjoy the snow.

It's amazing to be on a trip/vacation, only a day in and figuring out when you're going to come back and visit again....

If any of you have not visited Vancouver, this is one city you must put on your must see and do list.
The only few things that sucked were the delays on the road to and from Whistler and the Chinese food at the airport.

I can only see great things for your city as you prepare for the 2010 Winter Olympics. I saw that Salt Lake City did for their Olympics and having the Olympics in your city upgrades all the ski resorts along with the other venues



Having a "small" turnout Tuesday night, I thought the place was filled to capacity.
I can't imagine what you guys have to do when you have a "full" class.....

Thank you for the respect and courtesy you showed me.

[aseepish]

The only few things that sucked were the delays on the road to and from Whistler and the Chinese food at the airport.

The Sea-to-Sky highway is notorious for delays (fatal accidents too ). LOL at the airport food!

I'm glad you enjoyed yourself!

[jaymackz]

I get to train with Tim shears and Super Dave every Saturday =)...GI class, whenever you're down here again be sure to visit in Surrey. The gym is called Suitela. Cya! BTW..what gyms would you recommend down there in Cali? More in the Long Beach area or LA area

[gekko]

SweepEm, Glad you enjoyed your trip.

Did you get a chance to train with both Tim Shears and Marcus Soares? I'm eager to join a BJJ school here in Vancouver and I'm having trouble deciding between these two guys!

Marcus Soares appears to have an incredible resume...7th degree black belt, grew up in Brazil and trained under Carlson Gracie, 35 years of BJJ experience, etc...I've heard him referred to as the 'Encyclopedia of BJJ.' This guy sounds really badass, and it seems like it would be a real feather in my cap to be able to train under such a decorated BJJ instructor. Am I making too much out of this?

Tim isn't as experienced, but is a black belt in his own right, trained under Carlos Gracie Jr and Marcio Feitosa. He sounds pretty badass too. Would there be any difference between the two instructors? Like would Marcus be able to teach me that much more than Tim? I know in the beginning I won't be able to tell the difference between even a purple belt and a black belt, but eventually is it best to train under the highest pedigree? The one thing I like about Tim's school is they have a 101 (noob) class and a 201 (advanced) class, so I could start off training with other beginners. I don't think Marcus' school has any distinction like that, so I'm not sure how the the classes would work with all the experienced BJJers and a BJJ-virgin like me training together.

Anyway, if you or anybody else familiar with the Vancouver BJJ scene could give me some feedback, it would be greatly appreciated. Or anybody else...how did you pick your school? What to look for? I have a feeling there is no bad choice, really. They are probably both great schools and I would be happy with either one, which is nice...but would I be missing out in any way if I didn't train with Marcus, since he holds such an impressive rank and has so much experience and knowledge?

Any responses would really help me out. I'm just really serious about learning BJJ and I want the best instruction possible. Thanks.

[jaymackz]

I'm not going to say, training with the one with more skill will give you the advantage, BUT ..it's totally up to you. I personally would train with Tim shears. He is younger, and I tend to get a lot with people who are not old. I'm not saying Marcus Soares is old...but sometimes a lot of old trainers, tend to just train so hard..without having fun. I wouldn't know this because I have not met neither of them. I will be training with Tim Shears..and hopefully I will have a great time. I've heard that many people enjoy his classes because it is so casual and he's outgoing? i think. Anyways, you can ask around....maybe go to Universal MMA where marcus soares teaches and you can have a 1 free week observation and get a chance to roll with him and his boys. Or you can go to Gracie Barra 72 and train wtih Tim shears and the gang. Or you can also go to cocoon athletics where Tim shears also teaches. Marcus soares Teaches at Revolution, and Universal MMA i think. Overall, I PERSONALLY don't think so much about the trainer, I think about how much fun I will have, BUT at the same time, how much great training I will receive. Once again, I don't mean to offend anyone, as I have not trained with these guys...so correct me if i'm wrong about anything.

[gekko]

That's actually really good feedback, I appreciate that jaymackz. I've been so focused on rank, knowledge, and experience, that I've completely ignored the 'fun factor.'

I'm only 24, so Gracie Barra could definitely be the better fit. From what I've read, I can totally see what you're saying too. After reading an interview with him on grapplearts.com, Marcus Soares seems to be really focused on conditioning, which is great, but maybe his classes would get a little stale after a while? And even just interacting with him in general might be a little more difficult or formal, given our age difference.

On the other side of the coin, I've done a little lurking over at the Vancouver Gracie Barra forums and Tim Shears seems like a pretty cool guy and seems to have a pretty solid relationship with his students...his handle is 'Shearsy' on the forums. So I definitely pick up a good vibe from him, he seems like a pretty chill dude...and he's still a black belt under Carlos Gracie Jr and Marcio Feitosa, so you know he knows his jiu-jitsu.

Thanks for that advice. I have a feeling you're right on with your assessment of the two and having fun is extremely important to me too, otherwise why do it? Gracie Barra is probably looking like the best fit now. Thanks again.

[aseepish]

Another factor you should consider is how easy it is to get to each instructor's respective schools.

What impressed me the most during my brief time training with Tim was the quality of his white belts. Really solid fundamentals. But make no mistake - you'll do plenty of conditioning with Tim too.

[asun999]

Hi everyone,

Newbie to this board and sorry about just jumping in this thread like this but I'll be visiting Vancouver this Friday thru next Monday and I wanted to find a place to train (perhaps open mat). Are there any schools open this weekend and wouldn't mind an extra sparring partner?

Thanks in advance!

[jaymackz]

Another factor you should consider is how easy it is to get to each instructor's respective schools.

What impressed me the most during my brief time training with Tim was the quality of his white belts. Really solid fundamentals. But make no mistake - you'll do plenty of conditioning with Tim too.

I just bought my Kimono, and hopefully I will get too train every Saturday for 1.5 hours with Tim. He drives down here in Suitela Gym to teach us BJJ GI. I love intense conditioning How long will it take to get my blue belt?

[SweepEm]

SweepEm, Glad you enjoyed your trip.

Did you get a chance to train with both Tim Shears and Marcus Soares? I'm eager to join a BJJ school here in Vancouver and I'm having trouble deciding between these two guys!

Am I making too much out of this?
Would there be any difference between the two instructors? Like would Marcus be able to teach me that much more than Tim?

how did you pick your school? What to look for? I have a feeling there is no bad choice, really.

I only got one night to do what I wanted to do so I went to Tim's school. I met Marcus Soares when he came to our school to do a seminar the Thursday before the UFC here in Los Angeles.

Yes, you're thinking too much about two great choices in schools.
Gracie Barra is a huge organization of schools around the world.
The Carlson Gracie organization is large but very small in comparison to Gracie Barra.

Here in LA, the choices for BJJ schools are huge. There are lots of schools all over the place so there are many choices. I always tell people to go watch several classes at the potential schools, talk to the instructor(s), the students and see the interaction. Location or distance to travel to your school can be important but even more so, you have to really like and enjoy your school to keep the regular schedule of training.

I originally trained with Royce Gracie since I started training Jiu Jitsu before the UFC and stayed there for about 3 years.
I left with the handfull of guys who went to start and open Bevery Hills Jiu Jitsu Club. I stayed there for 3 years too.
I got discouraged at my progress at Jiu Jitsu and almost quit. I decided to go on a search and find a new instructor and to see if a change would help me and my direction.
I found Rey Diogo (www.reydiogo.com) teaching at a Kung Fu school within a few blocks from my house. I decided to leave BHJJC, informed my sensei Marcus Vinicius and went to train with Rey. I did find my lost direction, my sense of what I wanted out of training and have been with Rey ever since.

If you're lucky, you stay with one school, one instructor. I know some guys jump from school to school but sometimes you do need to change to find that right fit in what you're looking for.